The Six Stages of Emptiness
by houseishot
Summary: The staff of PPTH face their own individual trials, but how does each react?
1. Stage 1

_**A/N: Ok, so please read and review, my first ever fic, (so proud of me! (not)) so please, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcomed with open arms and any plot ideas are as well. Enjoy! **_

Title**The Six Stages of Emptiness**

Author: houseishot (and just to clarify, it's house is hot (That's right!, not housei shot... JESS! (a very very very very etc. annoying, small and silly person. (smaller than ellamista (that's small))))) and that was a lot of brackets. () lol!

Rating: T

Setting: Post Forever, before No Reason. Foreman is better, albeit slightly brain damaged and House hasn't been shot yet.

Acknowledgments: 3 and hugs to my bestest buddy beta, catapocalypsica, and my other buddy, ellamista. Also to axelchick 'cos although u may not realise, the perfect pair (and its endless amount of chapters) was what made me decide to write a fic... TA, 3 u guys:P

Disclaimer: House is mine (I WISH.. sigh, drool... hehehe... Did I just write that?!?), Cuddy is mine, House/Cuddy is mine, Chase is mine, Cam is mine, Foreman is mine, Jimmy is mine... WAKES UP! The only one that is actually mine is Millie. DON'T SUE! I'm just a poor person that loves (and is obsessed with) House...

Pairings: House/Cuddy and Cameron/Chase. THE ONLY GOOD ONES! No offence meant to any other shippers...!

B/N: Please don't say anything about the 3rd season or I will personally go and strangle you to death! Seriously. I live in Australia, peeps! Shakes fist and curses Channel Ten I hate what they did to the second season. Completely ruined it I tell you. Seriously. I'm sounding too much like a channel ten ad. Enjoy! (btw, that was catapocalypsica)

**Chapter 1 - The First Stage**

_Wait for it... 3, 2, 1... House thought, cheekily_

"HOUSE!" Cuddy's voice ringing out loud and clear, almost deafening to anyone. Except Gregory House. He was used to being told off by Cuddy. Actually, he found it quite entertaining.

"Perfectly punctual as always Cuddy. Someone should give you a medal for that." House smiled sweetly at the growing rage clearly showing on Cuddy's features.

"House, you think that this is a game? You think that the 3 highly skilled doctors following you around the place are there for your entertainment? That the clinic is mandatory for everyone but you? The clinic has gone haywire more than twice this week, patients have left because they had to wait hours for a doctor! Complaints have been coming in by the dozen! And they're all for you. Any guesses why?" Cuddy's voice was nearing dangerous and about to cross the border. "You know what? You're like a petulant child. And children need to be punished." Her voice changed tones like a mother changed diapers. "I want you in the clinic from 2-4 every day this week. And no but's." She took a deep breath and looked at House for a reply.

"Awww, but Muuuummm... I gotta go and ummmm..." House unsuccessfully retorted, finding he had nothing to do except reassure worried mummies that their poor widdle diddums didn't have epilepsy or cancer or something.

_Well this sucks, House thought. Already read this weeks selection of tabloids from the gift shop, finished my new Nintendo DS game and Cuddy confiscated my iPod. This is going to be fun... Wait... Actually, I think it will be... House decided. _

Cuddy glared at him some more, still expecting an answer. House stared back, wondering how long she could hold onto her temper in front of the whole hospital.

"Well, are you done ranting? Because if you are, it's time for lunch. Mind you, if you aren't, then it's still time for lunch and I'll just ignore you while you annoy me in the elevator."

"Be in the clinic. Two o'clock. If this clinic loses one more patient, so help me God, I will…" and left it at that. Cuddy stormed off, trying to calm herself down.

_Darn it! Who was he gonna offload his clinic duty off to this week. He'd already done Cameron. Chase was most likely playing polo or chatting up a nurse and Foreman was probably working out how to make a cup of coffee. Now, who did that leave?_

"Wilson!" House's voice travelled down the long hallways of the hospital, resonating their way to the intended target.

"What? No." Wilson shook his head. "You said last time _was _the last time."

"Aw, come on." whined House.

House begged for reprieve from the torture of clinic with Wilson's weak point - the puppy dog look.

"Don't give me that look! You know what, doing clinic duty for you is probably much easier than not doing it for you." Wilson said.

"Geez! You know Jimmy? I thought the boy-wonder oncologist would've had figured that out a while ago."

"You never fail to come up with the perfect comeback, do you?" Wilson asked his friend.

"Guess I'm just too perfect for you Jimmy." House smiled cheekily. He had never failed to prove himself right.

"Better be careful, because if your ego gets much bigger, you might explode!" Wilson exclaimed. He smiled as big as House, for he had found a comeback of his own (for once).

"How long 'id it take you to think of that one Jimmy? Do you have a couple of comebacks written down? Hey! Guess what? You're late for clinic duty!" He turned and walked away.

Wilson smiled and shook his head, walked away from his friend, down towards the prescribed torture, muttering under his breath.

Cameron walked into House's office, and immediately, upon seeing House and his empty coffee mug, walked over to the coffee machine and started making more, as was her usual habit.

"Where's the other two?" House asked Cameron, without acknowledging the fact that his favourite personal coffee maker had just placed a new coffee in his hand.

"Chase is in NICU and Cuddy told Foreman to take the rest of the week off to...'recover'." Cameron replied, not paying attention to the women's liberation issue unfolding right under her nose.

"Well, then. If Cuddy thinks she can get rid of the, albeit brain damaged, neurologist on my team then I have some yelling to do. Bye!" He stood up and started to walk towards the door.

House opened the door, and started to walk (sorry, limp) but was stopped in his tracks when he heard the clicking of high-heels and automatically matched it to a beautiful face and a power suit.

He turned around, with a big smile on his face, and came face to face with the woman of his dreams. _Correctomundo!_ House thought. _Go me!_

"Wow Cuddy! Your timing, as usual, is amazing. Now, back to the point. What gave you the right to give my neurologist the rest of the week off? I'm sorry, _brain _damaged neurologist. Wow! A brain damaged neurologist. That wins this week's irony award."

"Are you listening to yourself House? Your BRAIN DAMAGED neurologist..." But she was cut off by a certain person's rude interruption.

"Brain damage that YOU gave him by not letting me do the autopsy on that cop!" House was losing his temper.

"Alright! You win! I'm feel like crap! Please House, just don't make me feel worse. Just... don't. Okay?" Cuddy felt guilty, and it was showing.

House ignored this and instead kept on going.

"Can I have my neurologist back? Pretty pleeeeeaaaase?" House whined and for good measure, he added the puppy dog eyes and stuck out his bottom lip.

"If you want him back, you call him..." And for the second time in her conversation, she was interrupted, although this time, it wasn't House.

"Call who?" Foreman's voice rang out loud and clear, making everyone in the ward turn their head.


	2. Stage 2

**Chapter Two - The Second Stage**

Cameron was staring into space, trying to comprehend what her mum was telling her.

"When did you find out? What's the name of the oncologist? Where is the..." Cameron broke off, finding a usually easy word so difficult to say now that her little sister had been diagnosed.

"Whoa! Slow down! We found out just then and you're the first one I called. The oncologist's name is Dr. Eliza Chisholm. She said that it was a very aggressive type of brain cancer." Cameron's mum, the voice on the phone, told her.

"Can I talk to her?" Cameron asked, trying to hold back the tears as she was scared that House would see and hear her crying, because the only thing between her and House was the glass wall separating the conference room and his office, where he was currently sitting, sneakered-feet up on his desk, bouncing his oversized tennis ball.

"Sure, just wait one minute."

"Thanks Mum, I'll talk to you later." Cameron replied.

"Hey Alli!" Cameron's attempts to hold back the tears failed as soon as she heard her little sister's voice. The sister that she played with, fought with, cried with. Her only sibling. The one that helped her get through her husband's cancer before his best friend had come along. The one that she had told confidently the -isms of House, his annoying little pranks, and, most importantly, how she felt about him. The one that, as soon as she'd had a bad day, would always pick up the phone and talk for hours on end, no matter what time of day or night, no matter whether she was working or eating. The one that was always happy, always cheerful, always smiling. That sister. Her sister.

"Hey... You ok Millie?" Cameron asked, trying not to sound like she was crying, trying not to sound like her voice would fail her any moment.

"Maybe the question you really should be asking is, are you ok yourself?" Millie asked, instantly.

"I'm not the one that's...sick" _That term was going to take some getting used to._ Cameron thought.

There was a pause as each sister contemplated the situation.

"I have a plan, ok? I'm going to fly over there, first thing tomorrow. I'm going to bring you back here and Wilson is going to talk to you, after I go and talk to him, right now." Cameron said, breaking the silence. She paused again, taking deep breaths as she waited for her sister's reply.

"Hey, slow down, don't give yourself a heart attack. Let's go through this brilliant plan of yours. First of all, what are you going to say to House? You can't just say, hey boss, I'm going to Canada to get a cancer-ridden little sister of mine. Second of all, no offence, but how will you be able to get a flight to Vancouver and back on such short notice? It's not like you own a plan or are part of a mafia. Or are you?" Millie asked. She smiled, knowing her sister wouldn't see it but feel it, and waited just as she had done before, for her sister's reply.

"Shut up Millie." Cameron said, happier now that her sister could make jokes. "The flight will be easy, I can do that on the internet. But House is something totally different. I have no idea how to interact with him, and when we do it always leads to him teasing me about some sexual thing between various male co-workers and me..." Cameron's voice trailed off.

She glanced at House who was still occupied with the oversized tennis ball. How someone could be so interested in a piece of sphere-shaped rubber covered in fluff was beyond her.

She got up slowly, with the phone glued to her ear, thinking about how to approach House and what to say.

"So, what are you gonna say?" Millie's voice rang through the phone.

"I have no idea, I'll end up making it up as I go and then bursting into tears. That will end up with House teasing me but I won't take any notice. So don't worry 'bout me." Cameron lightened the situation a little.

"Bye Millie, I'll call you after I talk to House and Wilson, OK?"

"Sure, bye." And with that, both sisters hung up.

Cameron walked around to the door of House's office, knocked and then entered. House had finished with the tennis ball and had switched to twirling his cane around his fingers.

"Ummm, House?" Cameron said, her voice wavering in fear.

"What?" House replied, with his usual short, blunt manner.

"Can I take tomorrow and Wednesday off, please?"

"Only if you tell me exactly why you are going, where you are going and what you plan on doing."

"I can't." Cameron felt her voice wavering and she knew that the conversation needed to end soon or she would need a life raft to save herself from drowning in her own tears.

"Then no day off." House replied, not regretting his bitterness in the slightest.

"House, leave her alone. Can't you stop being an $$ for a while?" Chase interrupted, as Cameron felt her cheeks turn pink at the thought of Chase 'saving' her. She couldn't help but be embarrassed by his 'knight in shining armour' action, although she couldn't say that she didn't appreciate it. She also wondered if Chase had heard the phone conversation and at that thought, tears stung her eyes.

House looked at Cameron and her pink-tinged cheeks and tear-stained face and assumed that it was a problem within her family. He concluded that, judging by how she hadn't stopped Chase from defending her, there was going to be some fireworks between the two very soon, and he smirked at the thought.

"Fine. But if I let you go now, you have to tell me when you get back. I can't be bothered to quiz you about your personal life at the moment. But who's gonna make me my coffee?" House said and the smirk wiped off his face when he realised he would have to put up with prettyboy-coffee or funny tasting neuro-coffee for the next two days. _Damn! House thought. _

Cameron walked out of House's office and started heading towards Wilson's, when she realised Chase was following her.

"Thanks Chase. For... You know." Cameron said, without making eye contact or even looking at his face.

"Welcome. Now, tell me what's up and how I can help." Chase probed her.

Cameron hesitated. When she looked up, she saw how he looked like he actually cared and she decided to tell him.

"My little sister just got diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer. I'm flying up to Vancouver tomorrow to get her and I'm hoping that Wilson can help her." Cameron couldn't believe that she told him, because last time something happened in her life and she told him, she ended up having drug-induced sex with him.

Chase was taken aback. Cameron never mentioned her personal life to him and he didn't know she had a sister. He never thought to ask about her family. Immediately, he regretted not asking her about her family before.

"I've got to go and talk to Wilson. Thanks again, Chase"

"Wait. After you talk to him, meet me in the lobby and we'll go get a drink and talk. No sex this time. Ok?"

"That sounds good. I'll be about half an hour, meet you down there at 7?" Cameron was somewhat relieved to have told someone, as if the burden was off her slightly. She headed to Wilson's office and hoped he would help.

_Wilson's Office_

"When she gets here tomorrow, I'll take a fresh MRI of her head and go over her options with the both of you". Wilson told Cameron as she held back her tears.

"We'll be here by 4 tomorrow afternoon." Cameron said.

"That's fine. See you tomorrow." Wilson started to pack up his things as he got ready to go home to... Not much really.

Cameron started to leave but stopped. "Oh, and Wilson? Thanks for everything."

Cameron went back to her desk, took off her lab coat and headed down to the lobby to meet Chase.

_Later_

"Are you ok?" Chase asked finally, after letting Cameron lean on his shoulder for the past 10 minutes.

"Yes. No. I don't know." To Chase, Cameron sounded frustrated. Scared, even.

"I better go, I've got a lot of stuff to do." Cameron lifted up her head and looked Chase straight in the eyes.

"Hey, Cameron?" Chase said as Cameron started to leave. "Do you... Do you want me to come with you?" Chase hesitated, not sure what her reaction was going to be.

"But what about House? You can't just leave! House'll go mad and if he finds out that you're with me, we'll both be teased for weeks. Not to mention the prospect of him firing you and possibly me. I couldn't do that to you."

"Cameron, really. Do you want me to? I'll just take some sick leave, really, I can." Chase was insisting now.

"I don't know. Ok, I'm going to go home and call you in about an hour. Is that alright?" Cameron didn't sound sure.

"That's fine. Come on, I'll walk you out." Chase noticed that Cameron had relaxed a little since they had left the hospital.

"Chase, thanks. For everything." Cameron looked small, overwhelmed and scared and Chase hated it.

"That's it. I'm coming with you tomorrow, there's no way you can do this alone." Now Chase was determined to help.

"You're right, I don't think I can, but are you sure?" Cameron sounded relieved but still slightly overwhelmed. "I think... Thankyou, really."

"I'll organise the tickets when I get home, ok? You just get ready and get some sleep." Chase tried to calm her down.

"Sure, just try and get some early flights and call me when you've got them." Cameron was relaxing and this made Chase feel better in spite of the situation.

The 10 minute drive to Camerons' house seemed to continue forever, like a never ending pathway to something deep, dark and unknown. Meanwhile, the 20 minute drive for Chase went very fast, a personal record, on account of him speeding the whole way and even he wasn't sure why.


End file.
